The 71st Himachal Day was celebrated with traditional fervor, fanfare and enthusiasm throughout the State. Unfurling of National Tri-colour, presentation of impressive march past by the contingents of Police, Home Guards, NCC, NSS, Scouts and Guides, colourful culture programmes and exhibitions marked the celebration at State, District and Sub Division level.The State level function was held at historic the Ridge Shimla, where Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur unfurled the National Flag and took salute from the contingent of Police, IVth Battalions of IRB, Home Guards, NCC Boys and NCC Girls.DSP Amit Thakur commanded the parade.Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister felicitated the entire populace of the State and wished for their prosperous and bright future. While congratulating the people of the State for the magnificent development the Chief Minister said that this had been made possible due to their sincere efforts and active participation in the developmental process.Jai Ram Thakur said that the State Government lowered the eligibility age of senior citizens for getting pension without any income limit from 80 to 70 years. About 1.30 lakh such elderly people have benefitted from this decision. He said that safety and security of the women and maintain better law and order in the State has been the priority of the government. “Gudiya” Helpline-1515 and “Shakti Button App” were launched so that in the event of any crisis women could send information to the police immediately through these new technology based facilities, he added. In addition, “Hoshiyar Singh” Helpline-1090 has been started to strictly deal with forest mafia, mining mafia and drug mafia in the State.He said that “Chief Minister Dash Board” has been started and all the important departments have been linked to it to bring efficiency in administration.
The Government was encouraging its officers and employees to think “out of the box” and prepare new and innovative schemes, he added. The budget presented by him for the year 2018-19 has 30 new schemes for the welfare of all sections of people in the budget, which was a record in itself. He said that provision of Rs. 100 crore had been made for tarring and maintenance of roads and Detailed Project Reports of 123 roads had been completed.The Chief Minister said that due to the benevolence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Centre Government has sanctioned 69 National Highways for the State but due to some reasons unknown the previous Government failed to prepare DPR of these projects. He said that the present Government has now prepared DPR and work on these would be started soon.He said that under ‘Himachal Grihani Suvidha’ scheme, women of those families will be provided economic support for purchasing ‘gas chullah’ who have not been covered under 'Ujjawala Yojna’ of the government of India.The Chief Minister said that 'Mukhyamantri Aadarsh Vidya Kendra’ would be started under which ideal schools would be set up with hostel facilities in phased manner in every assembly constituency where there were no ‘Eklavya and Navodya Vidyalayas’. He said that 262 posts of medical officers have been filled up in this period and the process of filling up 2000 posts of paramedical staff was in process.He said that in order to promote institutional deliveries, ‘Mukhyamantri Aashirwad Yojana’ had been launched in the State under which a kit of Rs. 1500 were being provided to all newborn babies in hospitals, in addition to an amount of Rs. 700 already being given for institutional deliveries.
The Chief Minister said that the State government has taken effective steps to diversify agricultural activities, strengthen and implement irrigational facilities and promote zero budget natural farming and organic farming. A new scheme ‘Prakritik Kheti Khushaal Kisan’ would be implemented at a cost of Rs. 25 crore, he added.Jai Ram Thakur said that making Himachal Pradesh an industrial hub of the country would be the priority of the State Government. He said that 17 industrial units involving an investment of Rs. 456.43 crore have been approved under the single-window mechanism during this period.While appreciating the role of employees in development and progress of the State, the Chief Minister said that the Government has provided benefits of more than Rs. 960 crore in this short period in the form of interim relief and additional dearness allowance to the employees and pensioners.He also expressed his grief with the recent school bus accident near Nurpur in which 27 valuable lives were lost including 23 school children. He said that the State Government would take all necessary measures to ensure that such incident do not occur in future.The Chief Minister gave Civil Service Award to Deputy Administration Kullu Yunus for effective implementation of gokullu.com website for convenience of tourist. Prerana Strot Award of Rs 2.50 lakh in cash and citation was given to Prof. Vinod K. Pal, Dr Randeep Gularia, Dr Om Chand Handa and Chinmaiya organization for Rural Development for their outstanding contribution in their respective fields.Jai Ram Thakur also presented Himachal Gourav Award worth Rs 21000 and a citation to Aanchal Thakur for winning medal in the Skiing competition held at Turkey.Education Minister Suresh Bhardwaj, Mayor Kusum Sadret, Deputy Mayor Rakesh Sharma, Chief Secretary Vineet Chawdhary, Director General Police S.R. Mardi, OSD to the Chief Minister Mahander Dharmani, Chairperson, State Women Commission Payal Vadiya and other senior officers of the State Government were present on the among others.
Jai Ram Thakur